Slashdot Mirror
Slashback: Imagination, Redistribution, Stiction
Igor, throw that switch, would you? It's getting drafty in here. After all the attention that the various projects working to codify the the Human Genome have gotten in the past few years, the audacity of what Celera and the Human Genome Project itself are doing has seemingly faded into the commonplace. That may change soon, as first drafts of the genetic sequence of a human being are expected both from Celera and the HGP.
Phasers back on stun, and bring us back to DefCon 3. Turn down that klaxon, ensign. According to this CNN story, that darn Serbian Badman Trojan may not have been much of a threat; despite dire predictions otherwise by NetSec echoed by everyone from CNN to Slashdot. At least, the FBI doesn't seem too concerned. Thanks to ghoti, who alerted us to the downgrade.
All I want is friggin' sharks with friggin' lasers on their heads ... If you enjoyed reading Time-Digital's recent Neal Stephenson interview, you may be intrigued by the article contributed by The Original Bobski, pondering questions like ""How can the future-fiction business hope to compete against our reality of humanoids who wear life-altering computers and elongate their lives with superdrugs and genetic mutation? How is it possible for any self-respecting science fiction writer to hope to stay ahead of the headlines?" Neal himself is quoted, along with a passel of SciFi writers who might be familiar to regular readers of the Slashdot Book Reviews section. Seems that The Future just keeps on arriving ...
iCrave TV: OK for Sasketchewanians, not Pittsburgers. julez writes "Back in April www.icravetv.com was taken offline because of numerous lawsuits. This article on CBC online says that they are set to relaunch their service in the fall on a subscription basis. Some stations will remain free, but, like cable, "specialty channel packages" will cost you $8-$9 a month. And of course, it will only be availble to Canadians via some unnamed security software." From the article: "The privately held Internet company showed 17 Canadian and U.S. stations when its site started last November. The service drew more than 800,000 viewers in its first month." That's a market, folks. ("Quick, shut it down! Somebody might make some money if we're not careful!") Read more about iCrave on Slashdot.
If Nike builds sneakers like this, we'd happily worship the swoosh. After the wall-climbing robot tech that hemos pointed out a few days ago, ABCNews.com serendipitously featured some more information about the Real Thing. Real Geckos, that is. How do they stick to walls? Well, here are some hints: no glue, no suction cups, no bubble gum and no special effects.
The [Trojan horse] file is believed to end with the extension ".avi" and contain a compressed, malicious executable file that ends with the extension ".exe".
When a fake movie clip is activated, the executable program -- called "Serbian Badman Trojan" -- runs without any visible clues to the user, NETSEC said.
How is this supposed to work? What kind of program, seeing an .EXE embedded in an .AVI, would run the .EXE? (Yeah, yeah, I know -- one made in Redmond). But why the heck should this work? And how would one embed an .EXE inside an .AVI in the first place?
Does anyone know more about this? I'm seriously confused here.
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The real meaning of the GNU GPL:
The real meaning of the GNU GPL:
"The Source will be with you... Always."
We at Celera are pleased to be informed that you are willing to be a live participant in our modification and augmentation programs in light of our recent completion of the human genome map.
Please take a moment and indicate your interest in the following augmentations.
[ ] Increase in neural density (useful for writing entire program code in your head, bit for bit before actually reaching for the keyboard).
[ ] Duck brain (useful for shutting half of your brain down, for resting, without requiring any actual sleep. Great for month-long coding frenzies).
[ ] Nocturnal eye enhancement (allowing for indefinite periods sitting in front of your computer terminal without turning the lights on or opening the blinds in your office).
[ ] Bladder enhancement (through minor chemical alteration of your digestion system and bladder, your urine may instantly be recycled into Mt. Dew(tm), ready for consumption upon urination).
[ ] Moose sweat glands (never leave your office for a shower, but smell like you've just splashed on your favorite musk. An absolute must for any male in a work environment where he may occasionally encounter attractive females).
[ ] Vulcan Mind-Meld (communicate with fellow programmers and friends without risk of misinterpretation, but be sure not to meld with your female companion as she will use all information received as ammunition against you in future arguments. Note: mind-meld is far from perfected at this point and does result in the occasional paralysis or permanent psychosis).
[ ] Massive horse penis (self-explanatory).
[ ] Rob Malda dream-date (Natalie Portman physique, hot-grits-producing mammary glands, Anime hair... non-descriminate sense of humor.)
(Due to scientific needs and demands and available participants, we may not be able to cater to all desires perfectly and some modifications may be made which were not requested by you, the participant.)
Again, thank you for your interest and do contact us as soon as possible. We look forward to working with you!
Kind regards,
Celera
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icq:2057699
seumas.com
What in the hell did they do to these poor geckos?!
Damn. And I just finished a science fiction novel about a bionically-enhanced genetic researcher from Manila who uses his prototype Geckoboots to sneak into the offices of a Saskatchewan media streaming company.
http://www.farmerbob.org
Was it really exaggerated? Who did the exaggeration?
Now, Slashdot picked up a CNN story. CNN merely picked up a security advisory, and described it with both pro and con comments. NetSec originally reported 2000 compromised computers, which I would consider a major threat, but by reporting what they'd found to the FBI, they were able to reduce the risk -- this round.
This is one of the problems of DDOS attacks: It's certainly a low risk to be compromised and turned into a zombie, but then, to launch an effective DDOS you don't need that many computers and you can take a long time to assemble as many as you need. So, 2000 out of millions of computers is a low risk, but that SubSeven DDOS would (and probably still could) be deadly to a chosen target which might be a single website. Again, one out of millions.
The point that Slashdot readers should take home is, "don't read the hype". The hype here was the Slashdot headline "Massive DDOS Attack Brewing?" I don't know that this could be considered massive, but it most certainly was groundwork for a DDOS attack. The technology principles for DDOS are out in the world, and the threat will not go away. The hype did not come from NetSec, or even, to be fair, CNN. It came from Slashdot.
NetSec has an economic interest in promoting its discovery.
CNN has an economic interest in promoting its news story.
Slashdot has an economic interest in promoting a provocative discussion. Hence, the hype may have been strongest of all right here, where presumably people should know better.
The news coverage given to these security threats is VERY spotty. It depends on a number of factors: how big the last scare was (Melissa? ILOVEYOU? or Michelangelo?), what other news is running, whether the threat directly affects consumers (their computers, or the websites they use), how easy the threat is to describe to and by a non-technical reporter, and so forth. Just because something hits the wires, because the FBI is investigating, doesn't automatically mean it's the biggest thing since Pearl Harbor.
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lake effect weblog
{Network engineer in Chicago--looking for work!}
In mid-2000, Kellar Autumn and Robert Full published their findings on the adhesive properties of gecko feet in the journal Nature. By early 2001, they had started the company Setae@Home to develop and market technological applications for their research. Today GeckoTape(tm) has almost completely replaced Duck Tape, making Autumn and Full billionaires. Gecko technology is important in many other fields as well.
But early efforts frustrated the entrepeneurs. My Pretty Gecko(tm), a wall-crawling toy which was their first commercial effort, failed when parents began buying their children real geckos, which were cheaper. Setae@Home was forced to begin selling treadmills for pet geckos instead. The technology itself took time to mature as well.
"The research was often difficult," Full said. "For instance, the geckos' adhesive powers works in a vacuum, but the little suckers kept exploding, so it was hard to tell." Full also notes that today's life-saving Gecko Firebots(tm) had a rocky beginning. "It was hard getting the data necessary to build them," he says, "Imagine tossing a swarm of trained geckos into a burning building. They really didn't perform nearly as well as we'd hoped."
"The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they be properly armed." - Alexander Hamilton
They determined a single gecko about two inches in length is capable of holding onto about 90 pounds -- about the weight of two small children.
Hide your children or else the geckos will steal them in the dark of night!!! Woe be to the tots who are hoisted aloft and spirited away by the deadly talons of the common gecko!
These are breasts; this is source code.
Why do you have a problem with those two things belonging to one person?
I was thinking about this the other day. I think this is even somewhat inevitable, but I think it would be a good thing...
SF authors should start reusing ideas.
Now, stay with me here. I suggest that there are two things involved in a SF book. One is vital, the other is not, but both together brings greatness. 1) The concept. The ringworld; Uplift; Robots. Whatever, good SF has a concept that starts you thinking. 2) Good characterization. If you have this and a good concept you have a great novel. If you only have a good concept, you can still have an interesting novel.
What I would like to see is authors take a lot of the great concepts and make great novels out of them. For example: Let's face it... Ringworld was a book with a GREAT concept, but sucky, uninteresting characters. But the concept was so great that it carried the book. On the other hand, I thought the Uplift books had great characters AND a great concept, which makes it a great series of books.
There are an infinite number of stories that could be done with the concept of a Ringworld. Or pick your concept! There are whole slew of them out there that are begging for a fresh treatment.
I suspect that a lot of authors would love to do some books of this nature, but are held back by being thought "unoriginal". But heck, look at the success of Star Trek books or whatever. People like seeing new stories using the same concepts.
Or Shakespeare. How many stories have been redone using the same "concept" that Shakespeare originated? But a fresh look at an old concept can still make a great story.
As I stated before, I think this is somewhat inevitable. We've seen the flow of concepts drying up over the last 10-20 years, compared to the early day of Sci Fi. Now we see authors getting lazy and writing the same old Fantasy books with elves, unicorns, etc, blah blah. But this is what I'm talking about. Fantasy itself is a "concept", but one that is "acceptable" to plagurize. I hope that we get a few more concepts enter into the "acceptable" category.
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Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
I'm surprised I haven't seen any mention of this here yet. I submitted it as a story a bit ago but it got rejected (it's only marginally on-topic anyway).
Here's the gist: Celera is getting massively sued in at least three class-action suits. Shareholders claim that Celera has a bogus business plan and which "is dependent upon its ability to protect its database [of genomic] information through patent protection."
These upcoming lawsuits look ugly, and apparently the shareholders don't appear to think Celera is on the up-and-up with their claims of IP protection for the human genome.
Now dig this. The reason why the class-action litigants feel that Celera's business plan is flawed is that the Human Genome Project has already "open sourced" significant parts of the human genome.
Here is the full article from law.com.
I am ready, Celera. I am ready, HGP. Modify, enhance, and augment me. Hell, exploit me. I am ready!
Incidentally, I'd go for augmentation in a heartbeat, especially if it was something mondo-cool like cat eyes, night vision, or enhanced intelligence. However. . .I'd just as soon let other people try it while it's in beta ;-()
But I wouldn't trust Celera to do this. What do they want to do?
Instead, Celera would turn a profit by selling subscriptions to a database of information about genes -- much the way Lexis-Nexis sells information about law.
Does this give anyone the creeps?
From this article on law.com.
I far prefer the HGP, and their GPL-like Bermuda Statement, which is supposedly at this link, but I'll be damned if I can connect to it right now.
Nifty idea, too bad the only link to it I found on the net is a malformed URL which when corrected attempts to connect to a dead site.
I just found a link that works for the "Bermuda Statement." It's here.
The idea is essentially to "open source" the Human Genome. This is why Celera's stock has dropped to a third of its highest value and it's being massively sued by shareholders.
Main gist:
It was agreed that all human genomic sequence information, generated by centres funded for large-scale human sequencing, should be freely available and in the public domain in order to encourage research and development and to maximise its benefit to society.
Am I the only one that things this feature would be better named Backslash?
NO CARRIER
> to compete against our reality of humanoids
> who wear life-altering computers and
> elongate their lives with superdrugs and
> genetic mutation?
How hard can it be? Just write your story. Then do some research: do you describe something that hasn't been invented yet? Okay, send your story to Amazing. Otherwise, send it to the New Yorker.
In fact, this could be an opportunity. If your sci-fi story doesn't sell to the sci-fi magazines, just wait until reality catches up to your story's "future". Then you can submit it to mainstream publications.
The Human Genome Project will do more to shape and alter the future of our species than any previous endeavor of humankind, and yet the Playstation 2 has gotten more ecstatic press. Gutenberg gave us moveable type, which led to an explosion of literacy and the expansion of the human mind. The HGP gives us moveable genotype, and this potentially allows the expansion of everything that makes us human.
Yes, some of the vistas are scary, but I also see the hope of exploring new worlds that both Kirk and Huxley failed to imagine.
Are we ready? I am. Bring on a future where perfect health and longevity are available to us all, the norm, the expected, where the brain has been mapped and the soul has retreated to superstition, where drugs are designed to enhance my individual physiology.
I am ready, Celera. I am ready, HGP. Modify, enhance, and augment me. Hell, exploit me. I am ready!
Neopets - the best free game on the Int
Science fiction authors have always been running up against this problem. Arthur C. Clarke, who is at this writing still alive, once wrote a story about a communications satellite. In 1940. Or Larry Niven, who wrote about Mercury's orbit (as locked with the sun, always showing one face) shortly before it was determined that Mercury actually spins retrograde by several days (88 day orbit vs. 59 day spin). Bzzt! One of the most visionary science fiction films, Kubrick's _2001: A Space Odyssey_, showed an orbiting spinning space station, a weekly earth-orbit-to-lunar-surface shuttle, a bustling lunar base, even an archaeological dig on the moon ... all taking place roughly this year. Not to mention the nuclear-powered Jupiter-bound spacecraft, human hibernation, and the intelligent (and mentally unstable) computer. Bzzt.
Basically, predicting the future is a funny business. It's more important (and ultimately more interesting) to examine the social changes than it is to try to be spot-on about the technology. One of the most visionary novels of the last twenty years was _Neuromancer_, which practically invented the concept of cyberspace, and author William Gibson had never used a computer or logged onto the internet. He wrote it on a manual Underwood. Yet many would say that it's chillingly accurate, half a generation later.
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lake effect weblog
{Network engineer in Chicago--looking for work!}
"How can sci-fi compete in an era where computers process millions of bits per second, our cities our powered by the Atom, and man travels through the stars?"
:P]
Simple, we'll make up new stuff. And that's the same answer I'd give to the question about sci-fi posted in the topic. There may not be a limit to human ingenuity, but there sure as hell isn't one on human imagination. When the sci-fi ideas of today are realized, we'll make something else up
There's also the possibility of writing 'not so far out' books like Jurassic Park, and to an even grater extreme, Cryptonomicon (witch didn't really use any unmade technology)
Also, there's been very little development in space travel lately, so non-earth based sci-fi will still be 'original'.
I really doubt that a realization of a few technical ideas is going to kill sci-fi.
Btw, check out the 'sci-fi/cyberpunk' book I'm writing [cheap plug
ReadThe ReflectionEngine, a cyberpunk style n
Mother: But you can't -- that's my baby!!
Monsanto rep: Sorry ma'am, but our company is just protecting it's property. Monsanto has invested a lot of our shareholder's money in research and development. You can't just steal someone else's ideas like that.
Mother: How much do you want me to pay? I've already paid you for the genes, haven't I?
Monsanto rep: It's not a question of money anymore. You've broken the law and we intend to prosecute. You should have paid when you used your husband's sperm for the second time.
Mother: But my husband's sperm belongs to him!
Monsanto rep: You should really read the fine print in your fertility agreement. Your husband received genetic material that belongs to Monsanto. We have "reach through" rights which means we own your offspring. We can terminate the agreement at any time at our discretion and the terms can change without notice. Do you have a lawyer?
Mother: No.
Monsanto rep: You'll be needing one.
Mother: But I can't afford it! I'm flat broke after paying for the fertility genes!!
Monsanto rep: That's not our problem, ma'am. I'll be taking the child now... [Kevlar(tm) vested ATF agents burst in pointing M16's at the cowering mother. Monsanto rep grabs baby.]
Mother: [screams] No!!!! My baby! Give me back my baby!! [mother is led away in handcuffs by the heavily armed ATF agents]
Voice over: Monsanto -- making a better tomorrow for our children by protecting patents today.
Many reports come out on "reverse engineering" organisms and components. Is anyone "enhanced engineering" organisms?
It seems to me, the humble gecko's bogglingly complex gripping mechanism would lead to enhancing the gecko itself, rather that trying to mimic it.
There are certainly reasons to reproduce the mech behind it, but a legion of geckos with camera's and biofeedback/bioinduction devices would seem far easier to produce. "Move left", "Move right", etc are Skinneresk commands that could be trained.
The Fire scenario obviously speaks to the other end. But even that asks the question of whether we can can create something that small that still cohedes at 500 degrees or better.
Cool Stuff!